For the first time in 10 long years, Yomiel's wrists felt free of shackles. Not just actual shackles, which were just uncuffed as he made it outside the cell area, but the shackles on his soul. Donned not in the messy pink sweater and stripes provided by the prison, but in a bright red suit, nearly identical to one from that day, he stepped out into the sunlight, bright and blinding, as a truly free man once more. He would never forget the gift his kind friend had given him, and over the long years he'd spent in prison atoning, he'd promised both himself and his companion he would live his life to the absolute fullest. He smiled and strolled out across the prison courtyard. It was a parched little square of earth, the only greenery being brave little weeds that managed to grow in the cracks in the concrete. He could have almost skipped this dusty barrel landscape, but instead he simply slipped his hands into his pockets, moving with a purposeful stride. The heavy iron prison gates were coming into his sight now and just beyond them. . . He gripped the heavy black metal tight, and then pushed with all his might. The gates swung open with more grace than it sound seem possible for them.
"Sissel!"
The woman turned, and upon seeing him, smiled wide.
"Yomiel!"
The two lovers rushed forward and embraced, forgetting all dignity as they were quickly overcome by happy tears and kisses, and in his happy daze, one thought drifted to the front of his mind.
It feels good to be alive.